Shobudani Kuro Asagi Honyama

Hailing from the fabled Shobudani quarry, this sweet Tennen
Toishi has a unique look in that it’s very dark when wet – so I’ve dubbed the
color as ‘Kuro Asagi’.

When dry – the color is a darker than usual Mizu-esque
grey/blue/green. When wet though, it shifts to a very dark shade of grey that
appears black in direct sunlight. The slurry from an DMT is very dark nearly
pure black also. In the photo, the slurry is lighter because most of it is from
the Tomo Nagura.

This is a hard stone, not super hard but still quite hard.
The surface has some tiny holes that seem to be similar to Su in a Suita, but
this stone is definitely Tomae, Asia or possibly Gousa – it is decidedly not
Suita. Some stones have gas bubble holes here/there, this is one of those
hones. They are not felt during honing either. I checked the stone very
carefully and all is well.

Edges off this stone are very keen, and the polish on the
bevel is higher than what I consider to be the norm from most Jnats. It’s not
quite mirror but it’s close enough.

The sides and bottom are sealed with cashew lacquer, the top
is lapped and the edges are chamfered. The bottom is pretty much flat except
for a 2” portion at one end; for me, that section did not affect the stone’s
stability but it’s something to be aware of.